The workers rush up to the windows and doors, bracing themselves against it in an effort to keep water from coming inside without much success. The water begins to break open the doors and even sweeps some of the employees further into the restaurant, with one even leaping onto the bar.

Most of them pick themselves up after the wave, but there were some injuries. Storyful reported proprietor Giovonna Damonte was hospitalized with lacerations from the shattered glass.

“We were drying the water near the windows, it seemed like a small wave, then in a second, we realized that a tsunami [sic] was coming,” Damonte told Storyful.

It’s one of many storms that have lashed the country, leaving at least 17 people dead and devastating vast swathes of forest, according to Italy’s Civil Protection Agency.

WATCH: Hundreds of cars catch fire and explode in Italy as a result of sea water

Areas from Sicily in the southwest to the northern regions of Trentino and Veneto — around Venice — have been impacted.

Coldiretti, the association of Italian agricultural companies, said in a statement recovery will not be easy.

“We’ll need at least a century to return to normality,” the statement reads.

People wanting to make their way through the squares and along the walkways of Venice have been unable to due to them being submerged in the highest floods the city has seen in a decade. Walkways set out for people to navigate the city even had to be taken down because the water was so high.

CNN reports a project, known as the Moses Project, has been underway for years to protect Venice from serious flooding, however, it is not yet completed. A spokesperson for the Civil Protection Agency told CNN the project could have mitigated the impact salt water has been having on some of Venice’s historic sites.

Damage estimates from the northern region of Veneto put the cost at more than one billion euros (CDN$1.49 billion).